First Settlement in Potsdam

“The first settlement of the town of Potsdam was begun by Benjamin Raymond, the land agent for the proprietors (Clarkson’s etc.) in 1803. In May of that year he left Rome with a bateau laden with mill irons www.tshirtsfordesign.com, provisions and six men and proceeded by the difficult and tedious route of Wood Creek (Locks at Wolf Rift in the canal connecting the Mohawk with a Wood Creek and Oneida Lake were completed in 1797 according to Eastman’s History of N.Y. State1832. Page 359. Museum Book) Oneida Lake Oswego River, Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River to Point Iroquois above Waddington where he left part of his load and proceeded to open a way thru the forest to Potsdam. He struck the river some distance below: here he built a raft and ascended ½ mile to the falls where he arrived in June. Here he built a temporary hut and commenced building a sawmill which he got into operation that year (1803).

During the summer, lines for roads were surveyed our in different directions, and some of them among which was the route from Stockholm thru Potsdam to Canton, was so far cleared of underbrush as to allow the passage of teams. The frame of the sawmill was the first building erected in Potsdam [by non-native people]. Mr. Raymond had for two or three years traversed all this country, surveying, and was sensible to the superiority of the soil here before commencing a settlement.”

Quote from: The Early History of Potsdam